Producer
Leopold Hoesch
Director
Barbara Block
Producer
Nicholas von Brauchitsch
Genre
Culture
Broadcaster
ZDFtheaterkanal / 3sat / ZDFdokukanal
Length
1 x 30'
Editor
Ariane Fuchs
Year
2003
Theatrescapes
Staatstheater Oldenburg

The Oldenburg State Theatre is not easy to discover, but it is worth exploring. Anyone setting off for the university town in northern Germany should not be afraid of the provinces. A historic old town centre, numerous parks and villas characterise the former residential town on the border to Holland.

Germany's smallest state theatre has always been an important social meeting place. It was built in 1833 by carpenter Muck. The Grand Duchess Cäcilie von Oldenburg financed the original wooden building. Then in 1881 the Grand Ducal Residence Theatre was built in the Italian Renaissance style. In 1891, a fire completely destroyed the theatre, but only two years later it was reopened as one of the most beautiful "Gründerzeit" theatres in northern Germany with seating for almost 1,000 spectators. This splendid theatre building, although partially rebuilt and extended, has been preserved in its core to this day.

The Oldenburg State Theatre is one of the few theatres in Germany that survived the Second World War almost undamaged. The years after the war served to return to the classical tradition.

In addition to the Großes Haus, there has been a Kleines Haus since 1998, which is also the venue for the Auguste Hinrichs Stage. Its task is to cultivate the Low German language. The inventor of the Mainzelmännchen, Wolf Gerlach, previously worked as a stage designer in Oldenburg for nine years and developed designs for Erwin Piscator.

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